Spool



Jan. 13: 1948.

F. J. LENQX 2,434,363

SPOOL Filed April 2'7, 1946 II 11 \ll INVENTOR. FRANK J. usnox Patented Jan. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICETI SPOOL Frank J. Lenox, Weehawken, N. J. Application April 27, 1946, Serial No. 665,520 7 Claims. (Cl. 242-119) spool head.

Most spools are customarily employed only once and then discarded. Therefore, they must be made of inexpensive yet sturdy materials which are relatively easily assembled and adapted to mass production. Heretofore, paper, wooden, cardboard or similar plugs were used to hold the heads to the traverse or barrel of a spool. In some structures, the heads and traverse were fixed to one another by glue, staples or metal sleeves. These structures were not completely satisfactory for the following reasons: the complexity in the method of assembly, the danger of the heads becoming loose and tearing away from the traverse; the protrusion of the plugs beyond the outside faces of the heads making stacking and shipping more diflicult, too large a perforation in the head, and high cost.

The object of my invention is a spool which overcomes all of these and other disadvantages and which can be readily assembled from inexpensive materials.

In order more fully to disclose these and other features of my invention I shall describe a preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the drawings in which:

Fig. l is a vertical cross section of an assembled spool; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a clamp.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, I is a cylindrically shaped clamping means of inexpensive sheet metal composed of a small sleeve 2 and a larger sleeve 3. A perforation d in the sleeve 2 has the same diameter as a perforation 5 in a disc or otherwise shaped spool head 6 preferably of cardboard or some other material into which sheet metal can bite. The perforation 5 is preferably a central one; however, it need not necessarily be so. Clamp l is placed against the' inside surface of head 6 in such a way that free end i of small sleeve 2 projects through perforation 5. l is turned down into a bead as shown in the drawing which engages just enough of head 6 to hold the clamp I firmly against the head yet not interfere with the rest of the surface of head 6. It will be noted that when head i is formed, the annular disc-shaped portion 8 lies flush against head 6 and forms a metal back strengthening an area surrounding the perforation 5.

Another clamp is similarly attached to another head 9. We now have two heads 5 and 9 ready for assembly into a spool.

The free edge of the sleeve 3 is now formed or it may have been formed into an'upturned bead or flange I I having a circular contour. The flange it must be bent up sufficiently so that it will form an acute angle with the bottom of sleeve 3. I have said that it should form an acute angle, although actually the flange I I is'rounded 0r flared up from the sleeve 3 and leaves no sharp edge at its point of contact with the sleeve which could be measured as angles usually are, because it is important that flange II be turned so as not to impede or tear traverse I0, preferably of cardboard or the like, as it is forced over the flange I I.

Hollow, preferably cylindrical, though it may be octagonal, hexagonal, etc., traverse tube Ill is forced over flange or bead II until the traverse I0 is flush against the inside surface of head 6. It will be noted in this connection that unless the bead II is gently flared or rounded into the bottom of the large sleeve 3 the traverse will be either stopped from passing over flange I I or else torn if suflicient pressure to make it pass is applied.

In connection with the relative sizes of the diameters of sleeve 3 and traverse ID it was found that the diameter of the sleeve measured to the outboard tip of flange I I must be a certain amount reater than the inside diameter of traverse I8 and that if it was not extremely close to the certain amount, the traverse would be improperly I attached to head 6. For instance, it was determined that with a spool of a given size and resil-. iency, the diameter of sleeve 3 measured to the tip offiange II had to be of the'order of one twenty-thousandth of an inch greater than the inside diameter of traverse Ill, in order to secure the traverse properly to the head. It was found to be unsatisfactory if the diameter of the sleeve measured to the flange was either one thirtythousandth or one fifteen-thousandth of an inch greater than the inside diameterof the traverse.

Once traverse H] has been forced over flange II and into contact with head 5, it is virtually impossible to separate the head from the traverse except by the use of great force or some cutting device. If one tries to pull the traverse away from the head, the flange only bites deeper into the inner surface of the traverse and locks the traverse to the head. The same holds true in no matter .what direction one tries to move the traverse relative to the head. In order to hold traverse Ill securely it is not necessary that flange I! actually cut into the surface of the traverse. The traverse mayhave sufficient resiliency so that merely the pressure of the flange against its inner surface will hold it firmly.

As shown in Fig. 1 there maybe a space between the sides of sleeve 3 and the inside surface of traverse Ill. The space shown in Fig. 1 is somewhat exaggerated since flange II and traverse IIi are sufliciently resilient to permit the traverse to squeeze in closer to the sleeve and leave a smaller space therebetween.

The metal back 8 is a. useful feature which not only makes it possible to have a relatively small hole in the head but also gives added strength to the clamp and the head. The small hole in the head leaves free a large surface thereon for printing, labeling, advertising, etc. The backing 8 provides a firm central area around the hole in the head against which pressure may be applied when passing the traverse over clamp l. The head, by having a firm metal back, is much less likely to tear away from the clamp at the point where it is beaded. The headwill lie flush against the metal back and there will be no possibility of its caving in around the sides of the perforation due either to an excessive weight being placed on it, or by being punctured in handling.

Although cardboard is the most commonly used material in making heads and traverses for spools, other materials may be used without departing from the scope of this invention.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the simple and secure means I have disclosed for forming spools lend themselves readily to automatic assembly and mass production methods. The fact that the clamp is firmly attached to the head with a minimum risk of tearing and may be easily handled because of the metal back, greatly helps in speeding up production of spools. Once the clamp is beaded tothe head, these two parts may be handled as one and fed as one piece to a machine which assembles two such units to a traverse tube to form a complete spool.

It makes no difference in assembling a spool constructed by my novel means whether fabric, yarn, thread, etc., has already been wound on the traverse prior to assembly of the heads to the traverse. Fabric may first be wound on the traverse and then the heads attached to the traverse by means of the clamps without danger of injuring the fabric.

What I claim is:

1. In a spool, a traverse tube, a head, clamping means for holding the head to the traverse tube and comprising a first sleeve for engaging the head, and a second sleeve connected at one end with the first sleeve having a larger diameter than the first sleeve but a smaller diameter than the traverse tube, and said second sleeve having a flange formed in its free end for engaging the inside of the traverse tube.

2. In a spool, a cylindrical traverse tube, a head having a perforation smaller than the diameter of the traverse tube, metal clamping means for holding the head to the traverse tube and comprising two connected sleeves, the first projecting through the perforation in the head and headed around it, and the second extending inside the traverse tube and having a continuous flange formed in its free end, said flange being bent at an acute angle upward from the free end of the second sleeve to engage the inside surface of the traverse tube.

, 3. In a spool, a hollow cylindrical traverse tube. two centrally perforated disc-shaped heads, two hollow sheet metal clamps for holding the heads to the traverse tube, each clamp comprising two sleeves of different diameter connected at their ends by an annular disc-shaped portion of the clamp extending at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the sleeves, a. bead around the perforation in each head formed in the free end of the smaller sleeve, each of said larger sleeves extending inside the traverse tube towards one another, and a flange projecting at an acute angle from the free end of the larger sleeve and having a diameter larger than the inside diameter of the traverse tube, said flange having a sharp edge penetrating into the inside surface of the traverse tube and locking one of its ends.

4. The spool according to claim 3 and in which the diameter of the larger sleeve measured to the tip of said flange is of the order of one twenty thousandth of an inch greater than the inside diameter of the traverse tube.

5. A spool head assembly for attachment to relatively resilient tubes comprising: a perforated head, a relatively rigid cylinder clamping the head around the perforation, the diameter of the cylinder being smaller than the inside diameter of the tube to which it is to be fastened, and a slanting projection from the cylinder having a larger diameter than the inside diameter of the tube whereby the cylinder clamped to the head may be forced within an end of the tube against the resiliency thereof without damaging the tube, but will be held against withdrawal by engagement between the projection and tube.

6. The spool head assembly according to claim 5, and in which the projection is a flange projecting at an acute angle from the cylinder.

7. The spool head assembly according to claim 6, and in which the flange projects from the free end of the cylinder.

FRANK J. LENOX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

